Block 14 Lone Fir Cemetery
Photo Credit: Ivy Lin

Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery
An organization dedicated to the education, preservation and restoration efforts for Portland's Lone Fir cemetery.

Though the documentation regarding the disinterment effort that took place in Lone Fir Cemetery is not included in this collection, this particular piece of Chinese history should not be forgotten.

The southwest corner of the Lone Fir Cemetery in Portland, designated as Block 14, was once referred to as the Old Chinese Burial Ground. Beginning in the 1850s the section was set aside as a burial space for Chinese Immigrants. For almost a century numerous Chinese were buried there and in accordance with tradition, disinterred and shipped home to China.

In 1948 the County wanted to use the land to erect a building and did so after the 1948 disinterment effort took place. Over 50 years later, in 2004, Multnomah County decided to sell the property, but the Friends of the Lone Fir Cemetery intervened. The organization, which is dedicated to the education, preservation and restoration efforts for the cemetery, gathered evidence from the Oregon Historical Society and Portland's Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, that indicated not all of the bodies were disinterred. This meant that the area still had legal status as a cemetery and an investigation was launched to conduct
further research. In January 2005, archeologists discovered
untouched graves.